Undergarment



June 12, 1923.

w. B. ROOD UNDEHGARMENT Filed May 11 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Emmy INV

Patented June 12, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM 2B. ROOD, 0F WARE, MASSACUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO OTIS COMPANY, 0FWARE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS;

UNDERGARMENT.

Application filed May 11,

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, `WILLIAM B.' Roon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ware, county of I'Iampshire, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Undergarments, of whichthe following is a specification, ref erence being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to union undergarments or combinations. The objectof the invention is to` provide a construction of garment, particularlyof the seat flaps which, while affording an am le seat opening, willclose automatically; t at is, without conscious effort on the part ofthe wearer; and furthermore so that the natural strains placed upon thegarment by the ordinary movements of the wearer, kasin walking,standing, bending over or stooping down, will tend to close the seatopening rather than to open it. These desirable resultsy are attained bythe application of the principle that a straight line is the shortestdistance between two points, and that 'when a strain is placed upon thefree edge of the seat piece, it will tend to assume a straight line, andtherefore may, if properly placed, be employed to pull the seat flapsidewise into position to close the seat opening.

The invention herein described may be embodied in undergarments yformen, women or children, but, in the drawings, is shown as employed inmens garments. It willbe understood, however, that the adaptation of thegarment to womens and childrens requirements involves merely the cuttingof the garment to fit the figure of the prospective wearer.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown a novel closure for the uppercorner of the seat flaps, but I have not claimed the same inthe presentapplication, as this forms the subject-matter of an application filedMay 11, 1921; Serial No. 468,515.

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionwhen taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novelfeatures thereof will be pointedout and clearly defined in the claims atthe close of this specification.

In ithe drawings, Fig.` 1 is a front view and Fig. 2 is a back view of amans union l reversed as compared with the other.

1921; serial No, 468,514.

ment. y

` Fig. 6 shows `my inventionembodied in an athletic union suit made ofwoven fabric such as'nainsook.

Fig. 7 is a rear view of a union under'- garinent embodying my inventionbut having the upper edges of the two seat flaps permanently secured tothe body of the garment.` y

Fig. p8 is a rear view of amodified forni of union undergarmentlembodying my in` -vention v Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of the novel stayemployed at the bottom of the seat opening. f

yIeferring now to the drawings, the body portion of the garment is shownat 11. and in the form shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, is of tubularknit fabric. Thefly opening is shown at 12 and is closedwith buttons inthe ordinary manner.

The back of the body is slit along the me,- dian line from the point ci:which is above the waist line downwardly in the ordinary manner. Twoseatpieces are provided, (see Figure 4) the outer seat piece beingdesignated 13 and the inner seat piece 14. These seat pieces are of thesame shape but oneis They can, therefore, be cut from the same patternwhich is a decided advantage in manufacturing the garments.l Thervertical sides c, d and e of the seat pieces are nearly parallel witheach other, though diverging slightly toward the bottom of the seatpiece. In Figure 4, I have shown the position occupied by the two seatpiecesv whenbeing cut from the fabric. In thisposition the seat piece 13is rightside up while the other is bottomv side up.l The edge b oftheouter seat opening. Ifhave designated the lower edge of the outer seatflap f, and of the inner seat, flap` g. The upper edge of the outer seatflap is designated h and the upper edge of the inner seat flap isdesignated 2'.

The edge d of the inner seat flap and the edge c of the outer seat flapare sewn to the respective edges of the slit in the body portion 11 ofthe garment, and the lower edges j' and g of the two seat flaps aresuperim' posed as shown in Figure 5 and are stitched into the leginseams l5 and 16, being turned up in front, as shown in Figure 1.

I have designated the bottom point of thel free edge of the outer seatflap and the upper point of the said free edge 1c. Correspondingly thelower point of the inner seat opening is designated l and the upperpoint m. The two lower points j and Z, as will be seen from thedrawings7 are located in the respective inseams of the leg l5 andl6while thefupper points 70 and m are located on opposite sides of themedian line of the garment, and about half way between the median lineof the garment and the respective sides thereof. f

It will also be noticed that these points k and m are lower than thepoint a so that the upper edges of the seat flaps slope downwardly andoutwardly toward the sides` of the garment. It will also be seen thatwhen the garment is laid out flat as shown in Figure 2, the points andy' are both on the same side of themedian line, and at a con-` siderabledistance from it so that the entire free edge of the outside flap iswell on oneJ sideof the median line of the garment and in general aboutparallel with it.

Likewise the free edge of the inside Hap is similarly placed on theopposite side of the median line and in general about parallel with it.

`The arrangement of these seat openings is a very important feature ofthe present invention.v The seat flaps are cut so that the edges Z9 ande will be a little short rather thanl slack, and, therefore` in theOrdinary movements of the wearer whether he stands erect or stoops over,this tends to approach a straight line. and thus pulls the respectiveseat f flaps sidewise closing` the openings. This action is furtherassisted by the fact thatv the points 7c and y' lie well away from themedian line 0f the garment so that the free edge or" the seat openingtends to lie along the side of the wearer and across the outside of thebuttock rather than along the median line ofthe back and over the highpointof the buttock or 0n the inside of the crotch.

Similarly the position vof vthe free edgeof the inside flap is such thatthe strain imposed on theedgetendsto close the opening.

' I nd in practice that it is not necessary vto make the seat lapseithertight or loose,rsince the natural action of the parts when the garmentis constructed as shown and described herein closes the seat openingsautomatically and holds both flaps in smooth position across the thighsand through the crotch.

In the preferred form offmy invention, I make the upper edges L andi ofboth seat flaps with hems n in which are placed straps 0 and p securedto the body of the garment at their ends. In practice both ends of thestrap 20 and the inner end of the strap 0 are secured permanently to thebody of the garment, but I provide the outer end of the strap 0 with abutton and button-hole g by which the strap is detachably vsecured tothe body of the undergarment.

It willbe understood that the` hem of each seat piece is slidable on therespective Strap and therefore when it is necessary to open the seatopening the hem may be slid to ward the median line, thereby enlargingthe seat opening. j y

Since the outer end ofv each of said straps is lower than the inner endand since a slight strain is placed on the free edges-of the respectiveseat flaps, the tendency of the upper free corner of the hem is to, workdown. and close the seat opening. I find in practicethat even though theseatopening may not be pulled closedby the wearer after it has beenopened, it will soon work closed, owing to the slight strain on the freeedges of the seat openings.

For the purposeof preventing the body fabric of the garment tearingabout the loot` tom of the fly opening as has commonly beeny the casewith knit garments of this type owing to. the factthatknity fabric isrelatively weak crosswire of the wale, Iy use anovelV stay 25 of theshape shown in Figure 9.. This stay is cut with the walerunningtransversely and. is stitched along the line 'o into the inseaml5, 1 6 and is stitched to the body along the lines yA and e so that ittakes. the strain. which. wouldotherwise come on the body fabric itself.

Referringl now to Figure', there is shown therein a garment similar tothe garment al'- ready described except for the fact that the novelclosure for the upper edge ofthe seat'. flap is notl employed but on thecontrary the seat flaps are stitched' along the lines r 'and s, tothe'body portion of'the undergarment. I find that under certainconditions such a garment is just as satisfactory as the gar ment shownin Figure l.

In Figure 6 is shownia garment similarto that showny in Figure y7,*butmade of nains sock or other vwoven fabric and provided witha waistbandl' of'elastic material; In this garmentthe upper edges of thel seatflaps are sewn to the lower'edge t' oflthe waist band of,f elasticmaterial.

InL Figure 8 I have shown another undergarment, the inner seat Hap l8ofwhich is permanently attached along its upper ed e u to the body portionof the garment whi e the outer seat ap 19 is provided With a strap andbutton closure as shown at 20, Fi ure 8,

1. An improved union undergarment comprising a body portion and inner`and outer seat pieces, one longitudinal edge of each of said seatpieces being secured to the body of the garment and the other longitu`dinal edges of said seat pieces being free to Yform inner and outeredges of a seat opening, both of said seat pieces being free along theirupper edges and supported in suoli manner that the upper ends of saidseat pieces are both laterally slidable.

2. An improved union undergarment comprising a body portion and innerand outer seat flaps, one longitudinal edge kof each of which is securedto the body of the garment and the other longitudinal edges of whichform, respectively, inner and outer edges of a seat opening, said freeedges being located on opposite sides of the median line of the garment,the upper edges of said seat flaps sloping downwardly from the medianline toward the side of the garment, and being open and supported insuch manner as to be laterally slidable.

3. An improved union garment comprising a body portion and inner andouter seat flaps, one longitudinal edge of each of which is secured tothe body of the garment, the other longitudinal edges of which are freeand form the seat opening, said free edges being located on oppositesides of the median line of the garment, one of said seat flaps beingfree along its upper edge, a transverse strap having its ends secured tothe body portion of the garment, said free upper edge of the said seatflap being slidable on said strap.

4. An improved union undergarment comprising a body portion and innerand outer seat flaps, one longitudinal edge of each of which is securedto the body of the garment and the other longitudinal edges of which arefree and form the sides of the seat opening, said free edges beinglocated on opposite sides of the median line of theA garment, the upperedge of one of said seat iiaps being free, a transverse strap the endsof which are secured to the body portion of the garment andk slopedownwardly from the median line toward the side of the garment, saidseat `flap being slidable on said strap. f

5. An improved union undergarment comprising a body portion and innerand outer seat flaps, a longitudinal edge of each of which is secured tothe body of the garment and the other side edges are free and form thesides of the seat opening, said free edges being located on oppositesides of the median line of the garment, one of said seat flaps beingfree along its Lipper edge, a transverse strap one end of which ispermanently secured kto the body'portion of the garment and the otherend ofwhich is detachably secured thereto, the free edge of said seatrlap being adapted to slide on said strap.

6. An improved union undergarment comprising a body portion and innerand outer seat flaps, one longitudinal edge of each of which is 'securedto the body portion of the garment and the other longitudinal edges ofwhich form the inner and outer sides of the seat opening, said sidesr ofthe seat opening being located on opposite sides of the median line ofthe garment, the upper edges oi' both of said seat flaps `being free,transverse straps secured at their ends to the body of the garment, theupper free edges of said seat ilaps beingk adapted to slide on saidstraps. y

7. An improved union undergarment comprising a bodyy portion and innerand outer seat iiaps,-one longitudinal edge of eachk of which is securedto the body portion of the garment and the other longitudinal edgesofwliich are free and form inner and outer sideedges of the seatopening, which edges are located on opposite sides or' the median lineof the garment, the upper edges of both of said seat flaps being free,trans,-

verse straps secured at their ends to the j body of the garment, theupper free edges of said seat flaps 'being adapted to slide on saidstraps, the outer ends of said straps being lower than the middle endslthereof.

ln testimony whereof l aiiix my signature.

WILLIAM B. ROOD.

